2022 Advent Challenge

'Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way...'

Sitting on the crest of a hill, Cherry listened with half an ear as the local children started up another round of festive songs in the distance. She and Glade were spending Christmas in the mountain town of Goldrock. While it was small – barely more than a village, actually – it had a thriving, bustling community and the people there were so nice that she couldn't help feeling at ease around them.

As the holidays closed in, she witnessed great trees springing up all over town, complete with shimmering tinsel that reflected the light from both streetlamps and fires. The locals loved to decorate – the trees, the houses, the fences, anything they could feasibly attach tinsel, lights or baubles to. It was almost overwhelming... but beautiful, too.

After everything she had seen and done, Cherry was content to spend the rest of her days appreciating peace. And she was slowly, slowlygetting to where she wanted to be. The nightmares had almost disappeared, the invasive thoughts fewer and further between. And she hadn't seen Crowley in the flesh since the day she left him. Life was settling. Becoming monotonous. But it was a rather pleasant monotony.

She cocked her head, listening to the distant song and feeling something strange stir in her chest.

'Hey,' said a soft voice, and she turned to watch Glade walking up the hill. His gentle smile had never faltered, even in the face of all her issues. He had never shunned her, despite knowing what she had done. 'I just bought you a present.'

He sounded pleased. 'What is it?' Cherry asked, knowing full well that he wouldn't be telling her.

'I can't tell you that! It's a surprise. You'll have to wait until Christmas.'

Not out of breath in the slightest after climbing the steep hill, Glade settled beside her, tucking his front paws under his chest in a way that made her think of cats.

It was cold; she considered moving closer and snuggling against his warm feathered side. Much to her disdain, a small part of her still jerked back in horror at the thought.

'You like singing, don't you?' Glade asked.

Cherry gently shook herself out of her self-deprecating musings. 'Yes... sometimes. I don't really do it in front of other people though.'

'Why not? I've heard you sing. You sound wonderful.'

'I don't know. It just... doesn't feel right.'

Glade seemed to accept this as a perfectly reasonable answer, which was one of the things she loved most about him. He was always endlessly patient, but the fact that his patience extended to accepting her vague, uncertain responses without question was incredible. Cherry often didn't know how she felt, which made it difficult to answer his questions, but Glade never demanded clarification.

'Well,' he said after a short, companionable pause, 'I saw a notice board up outside the town hall while I was getting your present. They're looking for more people to join the festive singing group.'

Cherry remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

'They need both choir members and solo singers to perform around town during the festive season.'

'Are you saying I should sign up?' Cherry questioned.

'If you want to,' said Glade calmly. 'It might be nice.'

---

Cherry mulled over Glade's words for the rest of the day, and most of the day after that.

Glade often suggested things, but nine times out of ten, he made it clear that whatever happened – or didn't happen – was her choice; he wouldn't try to force her into something she was uncomfortable with. The only time he pushed her was when he could tell she was bottling up demons, and talking about them would do more good than harm.

This was one of the times where he obviously didn't intend to convince her, but was hoping for her to make the decision under her own steam. He wouldn't get angry; after more than a year of knowing him, Cherry trusted him to that extent, although she often wondered if her reluctance to take his suggestions bothered him on some deeper, unseen level.

Late afternoon on the second day, she walked into the middle of Goldrock, intending to find a present for him. However, inexplicably, she found herself moving towards the town hall instead. She watched the old stone building getting bigger and bigger while her feet pulled her along in a dreamlike trance, her brain moving too slowly to consider what was happening.

Just like Glade had said, there was a sign on the door. It was handwritten and very colourful, with little pictures of Christmas trees, stars, elves, and various other festive gimmicks, which appeared to have been drawn by children. The sign stated that the festive singing group – which traditionally travelled around Goldrock to perform at different locales – was in need of new members.

She read the entire thing several times until she probably could have recited the words from memory. The realisation that she was even considering doing this was... madness. She was allowing Glade's suggestion to take root in her head, perhaps too much. He'd complimented her singing. Was she only doing this in hopes of impressing him? Was she, yet again, allowing her feelings to guide her into dangerous places?

He's a good person, she felt the need to remind herself.

What if he was playing the long game? What if he was just a more subtle version of Crowley? What if he was worming his way into her heart with the intention of controlling her once she let her guard down enough to allow it?

She tensed, shifted her shoulders, dug her claws into the earth. And thought long and hard.

I've been with him for over a year. How could somebody act kind and patient for THAT long?

But then, sometimes the minds of evil people were a very complex place. Who knew his reasons for doing anything?

This is just silly... If he wanted to hurt me, how does telling me to join a choir play into that? The worst that can happen is I'll forget the words and embarrass myself.

A kind of internal sigh washed over her as she realised, with a mixture of rising and sinking, that she had already made her choice.

---

Signups were simple enough. The group needed members so desperately that they were hardly in a position to turn her down – but once they heard her audition, their eyes went wide and they seemed lost for words. Cherry was instantly self-conscious, but they were quick to assure her that she had one of the best voices they'd ever heard. Before she could process what was happening, they'd offered her a place in one of the local bands, a group called Winter Spirit, who were going to be performing a festive concert the following night. Cherry would be the lead vocalist, performing alongside a skilled pianist, drummer, guitarist and violinist.

It said a lot about her past when she couldn't even hear the word violinist without thinking of Crowley.

Nonetheless, she agreed to everything they said, too dazed to make any informed decisions. When she returned to the outskirts of town later, clutching a paper bag containing the gift that she'd almost forgotten to buy for Glade, she found the hawkdragon waiting patiently in their cave by the hill.

'Ooh, you got something?' he said with a kind of childlike glee when he spotted the bag. Cherry couldn't stop a faint smile from creeping onto her face.

'You're not allowed to see it yet,' she replied, tucking the present away in a dark alcove that served as her personal storage space. It didn't have a door, but Glade respected her privacy and never went in there. 'It's for Christmas.'

He smiled brightly. 'So, how was your trip?' he asked, changing the subject. 'Did you see the new Christmas tree I mentioned?'

'Yes, it was pretty.' Cherry wondered how he was going to react when she told him the 'big' news. 'Hey, guess what?'

'What?'

'I visited the town hall today. I wanted to get a look at that notice board you told me about. And... I decided, just for fun, I'd try signing up for the singing group.'

Glade looked momentarily stunned, and she experienced a split second of panic, thinking this had all been a terrible idea. But then his face broke into a smile even bigger and warmer than the last.

'That's great news! I hope you enjoy it! Are you going to do any performances soon?'

'Yes, I'm doing a concert thing tomorrow night... A band is going to be playing Christmas songs, and I'm the lead singer.' She felt a little bit petrified by the thought... but at least it wasn't her first time on stage...

'Is it OK if I come and watch?' Glade's green eyes were gleaming with barely-held-back eagerness.

She hesitated, but not for long. The thought of Glade watching her perform oddly wasn't as scary as the idea of performing in the first place. In fact, it was almost comforting...

'Yes, you can come,' she replied, smiling tentatively, and Glade couldn't restrain himself any longer; he darted forwards and enveloped her in a feathery hug that made her tense up, but only for a moment.

'This is going to be such a lovely Christmas,' he said happily.